Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual [Paperback]

Sharon Crawford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2000 | Series: Missing Manual

Windows 2000 Pro combines the friendly interface of Windows 98 with the famous stability of Windows NT. Windows 2000, the successor to NT, introduces many technologies that weren't available in NT, including Plug-and-Play, support for USB devices, power management features, and more. It's 25% faster than Windows 98 and three times as stable. Unfortunately, despite all the enhancements, Microsoft forgot to address one of NT's most glaring omissions: Windows 2000 doesn't include a printed user's manual.

In Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual, bestselling Windows NT author Sharon Crawford provides the ideal (and desperately needed) user's guide for the world's most popular corporate operating system. The book covers:

• Getting started. The early chapters cover using menus, finding lost files, reducing window clutter, and taming the wild Start menu.
• What's what. A complete guide, this book explains the purpose of every Control Panel item, accessory program, and maintenance tool.
• Mastering the network. Special chapters help you navigate the corporate network, dial in from the road, and even set up your own small-office (peer-to-peer) network, step by step.
• Understanding security. User accounts, file encryption, and the NTFS file system keep your private files private, while still offering network access to coworkers you specify.
• Flying the Net. This book demystifies the rich Internet suite of Windows 2000 Pro: its email, newsgroup, Web-browsing, and video conferencing programs.

Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual isn't for system administrators or OS theory geeks; it's for the novice or budding power user who wants to master the machine and get down to work. Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual is the crystal-clear, jargon-free book that should have been in the box.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Promising to help its readers master the corporate PC, Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual explains Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional (the OS that's meant to replace Microsoft Windows NT Workstation) to the people who use it. Author Sharon Crawford does a fine job of showing how to get Windows 2000 Professional to do what you want, and with the best performance possible. Buy and enjoy this book, if you want to understand your work computer as well as you know your home computer, or if you just want an easy-to-read reference to help you figure out new Windows challenges as they pop up.

Like most of its Pogue Press littermates, this book distinguishes itself by the way in which it deals with its subject software's deviations from common sense. In a model sidebar, Crawford explains why the Permissions window allows you to set both "Deny" and "Allow" permissions on a resource. She aptly explains why not allowing access isn't the same as denying access, and similarly focuses light on other confusing details of Windows 2000 Professional. This approach to software and its quirks is what makes this book different from the (many) other "How to Use Windows 2000 Professional" books that are on the market. Let's hope that Pogue Press continues to steer its writers away from ponderous documentation whose structure is dictated by menu contents. Books like this are fresh air, in a genre that invites drudgery. --David Wall

Topics covered: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional for the people who use it. Beginning with the barest of essentials (logging on and starting programs), this book proceeds through local area network (LAN) and Internet connectivity, hardware administration, and security. Mostly, this is an introductory text, but it covers the OS thoroughly at the user--as opposed to administrator or programmer--level.

About the Author

Sharon Crawford is a veteran writer of computer books. Together with Charlie Russel, Sharon authored the top selling Windows Server 2008 Administrator’s Companion by Microsoft Press as well as the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Administrator's Companion.

Product Details

• Paperback: 444 pages
• Publisher: Pogue Press; 1 edition (November 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596000103
• ISBN-13: 978-0596000103
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,791,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Applications > Office 2000

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Missing no longer, March 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

Sharon Crawford's book has all kinds of useful information for a Windows user. The functionality of the book rests in its ability to break down all the elements of Windows into meaningful components. It logically progresses from information about the different commands in the Start menu to the more intricate nuances of Windows and networking or adding hardware. The section in the back of the book about Maintenance and Troubleshooting, I found quite useful. I particularly appreciated the writing style -- it was entertaining and concise. Overall, I think it deserves its title.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice, basic, manual but no more, January 4, 2002

By 

Dr. Eduard Van Kleef (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

This is a very nice book for someone relatively unfamiliar with the windows operating systems. As such it is well-written, well laid-out and nicely illustrated. It will take every novice through just about everything he/she needs to know and even a little bit further. As such, its ambition to be the "missing manual" seems justified.

However, if you, as a great many of us have, have been through various incarnations of Microsoft Windows and are looking for all of the new and exiting aspects of Windows 2000 as opposed to e.g. Windows 98, you're likely to be disappointed. Vast parts of the book would have been exactly the same in a book for one of the older operating systems. The book stops where, in my opinion, things get interesting. Do not expect any clever "insider"-information.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book sets on my desk, May 7, 2003

By 

S. Kettman "TopDog" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

Im just a home user of Windows 2000 Pro. I switched to Win2K because everyone said it was far more stable than other Windows operating systems. After using the other operationg systems Win2k had a somewhat familiar look and feel, but I needed some reference. I rapidly grew tired of trying to find answers on the internet.
Then I bought this book. It has been a great reference for me. I easily found what I was looking for in it. I learned a few things I wasnt looking for.
My advice, if your like me just a home user this book will serve you well. It now sets on my desk within easy reach.